Cloth-pressing machine.



T. D. PALMER. .GLOTH PRESSING MACHINE. APlLIOATION FILED JUNE 8, 1908. I

Patented Oct. 31, 1911.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE THEODORE D. PALMER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

' CLOTH-PRESSING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1911.

Application filed June 8, 1908. Serial No. 437,389.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, THEODORE D. Panama, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, 1n

the State of New 'York, have invented new One object is to diffuse steam evenly over the entire upper surface of the cloth or garment while under pressure of the rollers and to allow the escape of the steam from the upper surface of the garment immediately upon its exit from the contact surfaces of the rollers.

A further object is to confine the exit of the steam as nearly at the point of contact between the rollers as possible.

, Other objects and uses will be brought out in the following description.

"Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view partly in elevation of a portion of a laundrying machine showing the various features of my invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sectional views taken respectively on lines 2-2 and 33, Fig. 1.

This machine comprises essentially two hollow rollers -1 and -2 journaled one above the other in suitable bearings 3 and 4 and having their meeting faces in close contact, the bearings -3 for the upper roller being movable vertically but are spring pressed toward the bearings -4:- by springs 5- to keep the meeting faces'of the rollers in close contact and still allow them to separate more or less when operating upon garments of varying thickness, said springs being properly tensioned by suitable adjusting screws 6- as best. seen in Fig. 1. These rollers -,-1 and 2- are preferably of the same length suflicient to receive between them any garment or fabric which it may be desired to steam and press, each ,roller consisting of a cylindrical shell and apertures The lower roller or shell is preferably imperforate but is provided with an interior heating chamber for the reception of steam or other heating fluid through a coaxial inlet pipe s as 'best seen in Fig. 1, the object of this heating chamber being to heat the shell -7 reasonably hot but at sufiiciently low temperature to prevent burning the garment and at the same time facilitating and expediting the drying of the garment. Theupper cylindrical, shell is provided with an interior chamber concentric with its axis and is also provided with radial 9- which are distributed throughout the area of the shell.

A non-rotatable steam pipe 10 is passed through an aperture 11 in one of the end heads coaxial withsaid roller and is provided with a pendant steam dis- 'trihu ting chunb'er 12 coextensive with the interior length of the chamber andlhas its lower side provided with perforations 13 lying close to the inner faces of the shell -1- at the meeting sides of the rollers, said distributing chamber 12 being comparatively narrow transversely so as te confine the steam within a comparatively narrow space circumferentially of said roller at the meeting side thereof thereby projecting a comparatively thin or narrow elongated jet of steam against the upper surface of the garment at its point of engagement by the rollers'and preventing the escape of such steam through the perforations in the remaining portion of the upper roller except those which may be in registration with the perforations 13 of the distributing chamber -12.

In order that the escaping steam from the distributing chamber 12- through the perforations in the roller -1. may be more closely confined to the meet-ing faces of said rollers and prevented from passage to the interior of said roller, I provide the longitudinal sides of the distributing chamber 12 with suitable packing strips 14 which ride against the inner face of the cylinder or roller at opposite sides of the meeting face thereof and just at the outside of the perforations 13. The upper perforated roller lis surrounded by a cloth fabric cover .15 coextensive with its length and serving as a means for evenly distributing the steam which passes through the perforations at the meeting side of said roller thereby preventing imprints of said perforations in the garment while being steamed and pressed. 1

In some instances it may be desirable to introduce steam against-the upper surface of the garment just prior to its entrance between the rollers l and '-2 and at the same time providing means for difi'us- -ing or distributing the steam evenly over I the garment and for this purpose the fabric cover 15 of the roller 1- is elongated transversely in the form of a belt, a portion of which passes around an idler 16 having its lower face in substantially the same horizontal plane as the lower face of the roller 1 but some distance n front of said roller so that the lower portion of the fabric belt 15- between the roller l and idler 16- is disposed in substantially a horizontal position leaving a space between the idler -l6- and adjacent face of the. roller -1. In this space is placed a steam pipe -17- just above the lowerhorizontal-portion of the belt -15% and directly in front of the roller 1,

said steam pipe being provided with a series of apertures 18- in its lower rear side; and through the lower horizontal portion of;

which dischargedirectly against the belt 15 upon the upper surface of the garment just before passing between the rollers landf2- In either case whether the steam is projected through the apertures of the roller -1 or through thesteam pipe -17, it passes through the belt 15 and then comes in direct contact with I the upper surface of the garment and while. it softens the nap of such garment, the mechanical pressure of the upper roller upon 1 the upper surface" of the garment tends to mat the nap down thereby temporarily v pressing the steamin a dense cloud in the nap but as soon as the mechanical pressure upon the upper surface of the garment is relieved by the garment passing out from between the rollers, the natural tendency of thesteam to escape, upward, uniformly raises and restores the nap thereby renewing and sterilizing the garment. The rapidity of escape of the steam naturally produces a tially coincident with the meeting faces of the rollers -1- and 2- and upon which the garments are/placed and fed either by hand or by the fabric belt '-15 between said rollers, steam being projected against the upper surface of the garment through the apertures in the pipe -15 or through those in the roller but in either case the steam is forced through the fabric presscloth or belt 15- upon the upper mirface of the portio f the garment at about the same point where it is pressed by the rollers land -2-, the steam being forced into the nap where it is temporarily retained ina thin dense cloud and pressed into such nap so that immediately after the emergence of the pressed portion of the garment from between the rollers, the natural tendency of the steam to escape restores the nap and at the same time the rapidity of evaporation of such steam, operates to ex peditc she drying of such garment aided by the ieat from the lower roller -2. The r :ers -1 and 2 are rotated simultaneously in the direction indicated by arrows X- and --Y, Fig. 2 by the in termeshing gears --20- as best seen in Fig;

1, one of the rollers being provided with a pulley -21 which may be connected by a, belt to any available source of power, not shown. Each of the pipes 8 and l0 extend through suitable stufling boxes in one end of their corresponding rollers -1 and 2 and are provided with valves -23 and 24,-, the valve 24:- controlling the supply of steam while the valve -23 controls the supply of the heating agent or fuel for the roller 7. What I claim is: 1. In a clothes pressing machine, two coacting relatively movable pressing elements,

.one of which is hollow and provided with perforations, and means for conducting steam into the perforated element and confiningit to only a limitednumber of the perforations at one time, and a press cloth movable between the elements and across such limited number of the perforation.

2. In a clothes pressing machine, two coacting relatively movable pressing elements, one of which is hollow and provided with perforations, and means for conducting steam into the perforated element and confining it to only a limited number of theperforations at one time, a press. cloth movable across suoh limited number of the per-' forations and between the rollers, and means for moistening. the press cloth.

3. In a laundrying machine, two coacting' tween said rolls and means for moistening the press-cloth prior to its passage between the rolls.

5. In a cloth pressing machine, two coacting hollow pressure rollers one above the other, the lower roller having an imperferate periphery and the upper roller having a perforated periphery, and a steam distributing chamber within the upper roller and having a perforated bottom and contact strips at opposite sides of the perforations in the bottom engaging the inner face of the upper roller for confining the steam between such contacts.

6. In a cloth pressing machine, two coacting pressure rollers one above the other, the upper roller being hollow and having its cylindrical wall perforated, astationary steam chamber within the upper roller and having an apertured portion in close proximity to and discharging through the adjacent perforations of the upper roller and against the upper surface of the cloth, said steam chamber having an inlet coaxial with the steam secured to the steam chamber and bearing against the cylindrical wall at opposite sides of said apertured portion.

7. Ina cloth pressing machine, a hollow pressure roller having its cylindrical wall perforated, a stationary steam chamber within'said roller and having an apertured portion adjacent to and of less area than the perforated portion of the roller, and confining strips for the steam secured to the steam chamber and bearing against the cylindrical wall at opposite sides of said apertured portion. v

8. Ina cloth pressing machine, a hollow pressure roller having its cylindrical portion perforated, and means cut off from communication with the. greater portion of the interior of the roller for discharging steam through a limited portion of its perforations. 1

In' witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this'l8th day of May 1908.

THEODORE D. PALMER. Witnesses.

H. E. CHASE,

C. M. MoCoRMA'oK. 

